"Is there anything we're missing here that we're going to find out in the newspaper or the news?" Graham asked.

"No sir," Smith said from the rear of the room.

Some commissioners are still angry that they only learned about a proposed three-way land swap that involved another elementary school site, the city of Chattanooga and the Chattanooga Housing Authority from a member of Chattanooga City Council and the Times Free Press.

The new Ooltewah Elementary School will house about 1,100 students, with nine classrooms in kindergarten through third grade and eight in both fourth and fifth grades, Waters said.

After a question from Commissioner Fred Skillern, Waters calculated that the cost per square foot will be about $34 more than the most recently completed elementary school in East Ridge.